TMBRA Mid-season update

It's late March and I'm halfway through the 2015 Texas XC Mountain Bike State Championship Series. Three races done out of eight, but I won't be making the fourth, so this is my mid-season. It started at the Rocky Hill Roundup; I had a decent race but felt kinda flat and came out in 4th.

The next race was Mellow Johnny's. This was slated to be a mudder and it delivered. It had been raining quite a bit leading up to the race, so much that they floated the option of a modified rain course consisting of mostly fireroads. Saturday night before the race I drove over to Austin to stay with a friend, and it was non-stop rain once I got out of Houston. Sunday morning the rain had slowed to a drizzle, but temperatures were just rising above freezing on my way out to the ranch. This was looking like a repeat of last year when the temps fell rapidly on race morning and the rain came down.

After warming up on the rollers to keep myself dry and my bike clean, I rolled up to the start. The temperature was still well into the 30's, so I was pretty bundled up. Luckily I didn't overdress and stayed comfortable the whole race. I had worn my mud shoes, and the cleats are placed a little differently than my normal shoes, so I totally missed my pedal off the start, got hung up with the rider next to me and finally got going in the back of the group.

I'm near the back in the yellow jacket with black sleeves.

 After this terrible start we went straight up a hill, and I managed to pass a couple of guys on the way up. At the top we went through some tight singletrack that was super greasy, and there was no passing to be done there. After we got out of that I made my way to the front group and rode with them for a bit. Eventually it broke up and I was in 4th or 5th. Through the race I saw 2 guys walking out with flats, so I knew I had a chance at the podium. I went back and forth with another guy through the 2nd and 3rd laps, but I was able to come in ahead for a 2nd place finish. I was glad to be done and stoked for a good finish, but my bike was pretty trashed. I stopped on the way home at a carwash and spent $10 cleaning it up, then immediately lubed the chain and pivots to keep things moving.

Even looking like this, my drivetrain worked well throughout the race.

Next up was Comfort, one of my favorite races and courses. We took the kids over for this one, and after the Kids Cup and Raine's and my preride on Saturday we went to a hotel in Kerrville with an indoor pool to let them swim for a bit before bedtime.

Kid's Cup Swag

On Sunday Raine's race was first, so after getting her on course I started my race prep while taking care of the kids. I got an ok warmup, then it was off to the races. I started about 5th, but when the 4 guys ahead of me went the wrong way on the first turn, I found myself on the front. I settled into 3rd place for the long climb up onto the first loop, and was feeling ok. We got to a critical climb and the leader bobbled in front of me, holding me up and putting me at the back of the front group of 9 guys. Unfortunately I couldn't get around him and the front guys got away, and I was left to pick up the pieces. I made my way up to 6th by the end of the race. This is definitely not what I was hoping for, as my series hopes took a big blow. I've got a few weeks now before the next race, so I'll hopefully get some good training and come back stronger.

2015 Rocky Hill Roundup Race Report

This past weekend was the Rocky Hill Roundup, first race of the 2015 Texas State Championship Series. I went in to the race with high hopes, but could only manage 4th on the day. It was a bit disappointing, but I guess I came out ok and will move on to the next round. 

I got a decent start, going into the singletrack in 3rd. About a minute and a half into the race I took the lead at the top of the first climb when the guys in front of me seemed to slow a little bit. I ended up getting a decent gap after this, but I didn't push too hard trying to stay away as I knew it was too early.

Eventually we formed a group of 4 at the front which turned out to be the selection for the race. I led the first lap at a decent pace, but I just didn't seem to have gas in the tank to be able to do much more than ride around. That first acceleration, which wasn't even that hard, was seemingly the only match I had to burn.

At the beginning of the second lap the eventual winner rolled past me and away, and I could not respond at all. I faded back to 4th, then 5th for a while, but I was able to take one spot back going into the last lap for the 4th place finish. 

A nice overlook behind me, but no time for sight-seeing.

I'm looking forward to more racing and I now have some things I know I need to work on. Big thanks to Sugar Cycles, my BMC was fast out there I just didn't have the energy to push it. Also big thanks to Skratch Labs, it warmed up a good bit during our race but I stayed ok and cramp free the whole race. I know the lack of energy was due to some other factors and certainly not the tasty pineapples in my bottles!

Thanks Ed for the picture and videos.

Raine returned to the start line for the first time in a few years and came out with 2nd place. I was stoked for her, she's been training and it's great to see her back at it. She had a lot of fun so I think she'll be back for more. We borrowed a popup camper for the weekend and stayed out at the ranch. The kids had a blast camping out and playing with new friends all weekend. I suspect we will eventually get a camper of our own, we have many years of these fun adventures ahead and I remember fondly all my families' travels with our camper in my younger days.

Our first family camper adventure.

GHORBA Bigger Ring Challenge Double Lake Marathon Race Report

Last weekend was my first race of the 2015 season, the GHORBA Bigger Ring Challenge at Double Lake. The was was 3 17 mile laps for 51 miles total that I anticipated would take a little under 4 hours. I went into this race with good confidence after my good results in the TX Cup series last year, but uncertain where my fitness would be as I haven't gotten too many long rides lately and I've just started moving out of working on base fitness. I knew though that this was a good course for me and I wanted to have a good race. I lined up near the front, but got swarmed a little bit on the start. I was rolling somewhere in the top 15-20 on the 1.5 mile road section to the singletrack. As we neared the singletrack entrance, a gap opened right behind the leader. I instinctively jumped in it and made a perfect move to go in 2nd place. The leader was none other than Nathan Winkelmann, one of the best riders in TX, multi-time Pro/cat. 1 race winner and a threat to win any race any day. I felt good and followed him most of the first lap, until he slowed and waved me around. I led for a couple of miles until we hit a long gravel road at the end of the lap, then I fell back into the paceline of the front group.

Leading the race ahead of Winkelmann.

We had made a selection of about 6 riders at that point, and I was surprising myself being there and feeling comfortable! Through the second lap I rode 3rd or 4th wheel as we swapped places a few times, but mostly stayed together while dropping a couple of riders out of our group. At the end of the second lap the lead group was whittled down to myself, Winkelmann, Scott Henry and Scott Minard. The Scotts are also super fast guys who race Pro/1 and can win any race at any time. Henry has multiple Pro race wins to his credit, finished 2nd in the 2014 State Championship series and has won it a few times before as well. He used to race for Trek/VW! Minard has been top 5 several years running in the Pro/1 overall as well.

Lead group coming through to start lap 3.

About halfway through the 3rd and final lap I was riding in 4th, feeling good and trying to think through how this race would end and how I could take a shot for the win. I didn't figure I could outsprint Minard or Henry, as they're both very strong guys. I thought I might could get a gap on them in the singletrack, but getting to the front and staying there on the long gravel road at the end would be tricky. There was a good section of singletrack between there and the finish line; that would be my best bet. About this time I was riding behind Nathan and he started slowing way down. The Scotts were riding away, and eventually he confessed that he was getting a flat tire. He asked if I had any air, I did but it was zipped in my pouch. He kept going but would not let me by, so the Scotts got a good gap on us. Eventually Nathan ran off trail in a corner trying not to roll his tire. I rode past but dropped him my pouch with CO2 in it. After this I struggled to get back up to speed though. I knew the Scotts were gone and there was a threat that Nathan would ride back up to me, but I just couldn't get going again. Sure enough with about 5 miles to go Nathan passed me on a short gravel road section and I couldn't respond. I rolled it in to the finish line to finish a few minutes behind the Scotts and less than a minute behind Nathan.

I finished first in my category of 30-39, and ended up 4th overall! This was a great result and will be a big confidence boost going into the State Championship series. Huge thanks as always to Skratch Labs, I truly could not be racing at this level without their product. I tried for many years but always had stomach issues that held me back. I also have to thank Sugar Cycles. They've been supporting me for many years and it's exciting to (finally) be putting up some good results for them. My BMC was super fast and smooth and I know it is the perfect bike to be competitive in all my races. I'm looking forward to the rest of the year!

Fall Series 2014 Wrap Up

After good races at Waco & Tyler I was ready to turn it up a notch for the last two races of the Fall series at courses I knew I could do well at.

First up was Ruston. This is where I started mountain biking and I have so many laps there I know the course as well as anyone. My in-laws also live in town so we go there a few times a year when I get to do some laps to keep things fresh. Going into the race I had my eyes on Bradyn and Neil, who had gotten 2nd at the opening round at Camp Eagle. Off the start I fell in behind Neil to keep my eye on him. I followed him until a Mississippi guy came around at the first fenceline. He led for a bit then Neil and I went back around and MS fell off the pace. I was feeling good and just sizing these guys up; I could tell Neil was strong but I was climbing easier than he was as he was attacking the climbs and I was able to keep right on his wheel without too much effort. Eventually we dropped MS but Bradyn had caught us. Neil bobbled a tight turn, and that put me in the front. This wasn't where I wanted to be going into a long fenceline section, so I just kept a steady effort. I led around to finish the lap, then we all went into the singletrack together to start lap 2. In the first singletrack section with them on my wheel I was taking every bad line I could, not wanting to give anything away and trying to make them work a little bit harder. I wasn't pushing hard just keeping a nice flow pace. When we hit the first small uphill fire road I took it up a notch and they came off my wheel. I kept the pace high through the rest of that section and I came out with a good gap. The rest of that lap I just stayed at a good strong pace and the gap kept growing. This was way sooner than I'd wanted to be off the front but I was feeling great. Coming into the last lap I had a really good gap, I couldn't see anybody behind me even on the longest straightaways so I knew I just had to keep it together and cruise to the finish. 

I got through the first singletrack section and then disaster struck. My rear shifter was starting to come apart, and every time I would try to upshift in the rear it would drop all the way down to the 11t cog. I could downshift back but then it would fall all the way back down to the 11t if I tried to upshift just once. Then it got so loose I couldn't downshift at all. I didn't panic, I decided I could just shift the front shifter and get through the rest of the race. I'd ride the 24x11 on most everything and just go to 38x11 for the downhills so the chain wouldn't be too loose. This was working ok and I was still making good time and not seeing anybody behind me. When I hit a long fenceline section I pulled my multi-tool out while riding and tried to fix my shifter on the fly. The bolt that was coming loose is designed to be tightened from the inside with the cover off, so the part on the bottom is a square. I couldn't tighten it so just had to keep going. About halfway through the lap on a short steep climb I got on the gas a little too hard and the chain snapped from being cross-chained so badly. This is when I panicked. I guess I was thinking that with my shifter screwed up and my derailleur stuck where it was, even if I fixed the chain I'd be right back in the same situation, so I just threw the chain off and started running. I just wanted to get to the finish line. Of course I figured out pretty quick this was a bad idea. I got about a mile up the trail before they started passing me, but I was totally done. I kept moving as fast as I could, but it was just wasted effort. I ran/walked/coasted the rest of the way until the trail passed the spot I'd thrown my chain. It took at least 5 minutes of looking, but I found it. I went back to the bike and of course fixed the chain in a minute or two with my spare link, then I ran my high limiter screw on the rear der all the way in to put the chain on the 3rd cog instead of the smallest. This helped and is what I should've done in the first place, I would've been in a better gear to pedal and the chain wouldn't have been so cross-chained and probably not have broken. I soft pedaled in to the finish, dejected about losing my favorite race in such disastrous fashion and my hopes of winning the fall series shattered.

After Ruston I went into Huntsville seeking some redemption. Afterwards I was satisfied that I'd gotten it. Man, what a race. Definitely one of my hardest, fastest and best races ever. The usual crew was on the line along with Shawn, a cat. 1 roadie from Dallas who had gotten 2nd at Tyler. I knew he was really fit from the way he smoked the finish climb there. Nathan Winkelmann also decided to race with us, not sure why or how; he was pre-registered in the Pro class, but of course it was a pretty good guess he'd be the main one to watch. Bradyn the 15yr old I've been dueling all series was there, along with Neil who I'd first raced at Ruston but knew he was strong. 

I was on the front row and got a really good start at the whistle, pulling out a bike length by the time we crossed the road. This let me sit up a little bit and go in the singletrack on my own terms. Neil was behind me so I let him slip through and went in right behind him. I think Bradyn was on my wheel. We got a small gap on the group and after about 5 minutes Neil let me by. I just tried to keep the pace, but got down the next downhill really fast and had a good climb on the other side of the bridge. I had opened a decent gap but knew it was way too soon to try to keep pushing solo so I just kept it steady, and then Neil and Bradyn came back. Neil took the lead on the fenceline road, and my teammate Michael had come across too so I was excited to have him and maybe we could work together somehow. I fell in behind Bradyn when I took a bad line on the first steep climb at hamburger hill, and we finished most of the rest of the lap like this, until Neil's tire was losing air and started rolling so he pulled off. Several guys had come across, then Michael crashed in the fast sandy sweeper on the homestretch section so me and Bradyn had a small gap until Wink caught us right before the second lap. 

Bradyn was leading into the second lap with me and Wink behind, when we hit the first open section Wink attacked around us and I told Bradyn he had to follow that. He did so we were on Wink's wheel and going hard. We hit a tricky left turn onto a rooty climb, I took the inside line and passed Bradyn onto Wink's wheel. We dropped Bradyn somewhere, and then I was off the front of a bike race with Nathan Winklemann. This was not lost on me, and was pretty cool. We rolled through the feedzone together, and then going down the descent after the nature center we caught another racer. Wink sat up and didn't pass him, then after the bridge when we hit the climb wink attacked me while squeezing around the backmarker. I thought this was kinda cheeky, but I was able to get by and up my pace to reel wink back in. I followed until we got to a sandy jeep road where he attacked me again. Again I didn't go all out to catch him, just upped my pace and was able to reel him back in. This is when I really started to think I could do this, as I felt like he had attacked pretty hard but I was able to bring him back. I think he put in one more dig on one of the small climbs before the jeep road, but I matched him and we hit the road together. He flicked his elbow for me to come around, but I knew this would be bad for us so I stayed back. He started slowing down and flicked again, so I had no choice but to go around. I pulled through the two corners, and I could see they were closing in on us from behind. I told wink if he didn't pull they were going to catch us. He didn't want to work so sure enough Shawn caught us before the big hill. He flew right by, and wink and I responded. I think wink got back ahead of me. They got a gap on me going over the climbs, but I pedaled the downhill afterwards and was able to reattach. We stayed together for a while, Shawn was hitting the climbs hard but wink and I were able to stay with him. Towards the end of the lap wink started letting a little gap open, but we started the third lap with Shawn just in sight. 

As we went into lap 3, wink had let the gap grow to maybe 20 seconds? I felt like he was setting me up for another attack. In hindsight I probably should have went around and set the pace, but I didn't know what to do at that point. Sure enough when we took the left off the road trail onto the rooty climb, he attacked to bridge to Shawn. I went hard to stay with, and went through the feedzone with them just out of reach. When we hit the next big climb I popped. Bradyn caught me and I let him by and encouraged him to go get them. I tried to keep moving after topping out on the climb, but Bradyn disappeared quickly. This was disheartening, but I just tried to keep moving. Soon I started to see him ahead again. I chased hard on the jeep road and big hill and reeled him back in. I rode behind him for a bit, and when we hit the next series of climbs one other guy came up to us out of nowhere. I was a little worried now, since that guy had come up so quick I figured he was riding strong. He stayed behind us, and when we got to the last climb I started to attack around Bradyn. As soon as I started going around he picked something up in his drivetrain and had to slow for a second and reach down to pull it out. I felt bad for seemingly attacking on a mechanical, so I pulled up and made sure we were all back together, but now I was leading the group and had to lead through the fast homestretch. I kept the pace up and neither of them tried anything. When we hit the last tiny length of singletrack before the uphill turn to the finish, I punched it with all I had, hoping to open the sprint a little earlier than they thought and catch them by surprise. I was able to keep them behind me to finish 3rd. This put me 3rd on the series as well, where I figured I would end up after the Ruston disaster. Paul, who had a pretty firm grip on the series finished 11th after too much partying the last few weeks he said and finished 2nd overall. Bradyn, with his consistent finishes and win at Ruston, took the series overall.

TX Cup overall podium

Huge thanks to Sugar Cycles and Skratch Labs for their support and keeping my bike and body running strong. Over the winter I hope to build on this good fitness, do a few marathon races and come into the Spring series hot.

Fall Series Waco & Tyler Race Reports 2014

The Cameron Park Blowout in Waco was the 2nd race of the TMBRA (TX MTB Racing Association) Texas Cup. This is the Fall series, a separate series from the state championship series held in the Spring. I hadn't planned on doing this race, but got the itch after I missed the first race of the series at Camp Eagle. We had a party to go to Saturday night so we couldn't go up that morning for a preride. Instead I had a nice 37 mile road/gravel ride with Lindsey & Dan from the Neilson Devo team. It may have been a little more than I should've done but I don't think it hurt me any for Sunday, and it was good to get some time with them for a little fitness coaching and do some work for myself also. We got up early Sunday morning for the drive to Waco, and arrived with about an hour until race time.

I got my number, kitted up, prepared my bike and nutrition, then went out for my warmup. I didn't do a whole lot, just a few hard sprints up some short steep hills. I might should have done more but I will take this lesson with me to the next race. I haven't XC raced or done any hard efforts in so long I wasn't sure exactly what my body needed to get going for it. We hit the start line, and I lined up on the front row. The start was about 200 yds of road, slightly uphill. I hit the singletrack in second, I wanted to try to stay with the leader and see what my fitness would do. I lasted about 14 minutes at his pace, then I blew up pretty good and started dropping places quickly. 6 minutes later I'd gone from 2nd to 7th! I kept pushing and eventually recovered and was able to get into a good groove. About mid-race I started bringing some of the guys back who'd passed me. One of them was a 15yr old named Bradyn racing up into our age group, he latched on my back wheel and stayed with me the rest of the race. We passed a few more guys, then when we got up to 3rd place he jumped in with us too so we were a group of three. He tried to get away late on the third lap, but I was able to stay with him on the twisties where he thought he could get a gap, then I passed him at the base of the finishing climb. I gapped him but Bradyn was able to stay close and was on my wheel at the top for the finish. There was a short section of road, some fast singletrack, then an open field for the finish. I sat up just a little in the woods to prepare for a sprint. I wasn't exactly sure where the line was, so when I came out of the woods I got on the gas and opened the sprint when I saw the timing lights. I was able to keep him behind me to finish 3rd.

This was a good, fun race and it was exciting to be in the mix. It definitely confirmed that I need to do some top end work for the hard efforts of the start and the short fast climbing in XC racing.

One week later was the Tyler Race at Tyler State Park. I was looking forward to this race because it's more my style, dirt singletrack with some good climbs but not quite as hard as at Waco. I had a fun preride with Raine on Saturday, then we hung out at John & Velda's RV that afternoon. We went into town to sleep at the hotel, while the kids got to sleep "in the bus". Unfortunately I didn't get a great night sleep so I was feeling a little tired Sunday morning. The legs felt a bit flat during warmup trying to sprint up some of the steep hills, but I decided to push on.

I had the same plan as before, go into the singletrack in 2nd and see how long I could hang on. Went into the singletrack 2nd behind the 2nd place rider from Waco, Paul. We started to open a bit of a gap on the field. Legs still didn't feel great but they were going ok and I didn't blow up after 14 minutes like last week so I figured I'd keep givin' it. I took the lead when we hit the paved road at mile 4, I didn't want to but the leader sat up so I cruised by him with just a little power on. I held it for a couple of miles but felt like we were going faster when I was chasing so I let him back by. I held his wheel for a little bit, but then he started to stretch it out a little in places. He'd get a gap, then I'd pull it back, repeat. He had about 10 seconds going into the finish climb, but I had been hearing riders behind us for a few minutes though I couldn't tell how close they were. I was gaining on the leader going up the climb, I caught him right near the top, but unfortunately I heard the 2 riders come flying up behind us and we all came together at the finish chute. Paul and one of the chasers took off into the singletrack, I couldn't chase but tried to keep the gap reasonable. The other chaser was the 15yr old I outsprinted for 3rd at Waco, looked like we were setting up for the exact same thing to happen again. The leaders got out of sight so I was focused on Bradyn behind me. I backed it off just a hair, still fast enough to keep him behind me but trying to save a little bit for the last lap. I gapped him a few times on flowy or descending sections, and he said once he stopped to tighten his skewer, but he was always able to bring me back. This was discouraging, but I stuck to the plan. He never tried to pass, despite the instructions and encouragement from his dad to do so, so I felt like I was making him work.

Leading Bradyn, the 15yr old who was on my wheel at every race. Luckily we will not be in the same age group again!

Late in the race I thought he was working harder to stay with me, but I was also starting to hurt. If I couldn't get a gap on him at the base of the climb I'd back off and leave it for the sprint since that had worked before. It didn't come down to that though, somewhere in those last few ups and downs before the big climb I got a gap on him and he didn't seem to be closing it. I decided this was the time to go, so I turned it up to what I thought I could hold to the finish. My legs were close to cramping when I hit it hard at the base of the last climb so I had to dial it back just a little bit but overall it worked, I was able to open up a 1:10 gap before the finish to take 3rd again. Paul took the win, I'm not sure who the second place rider was other than a cat. 2 roadie guy. Turns out I was less than a minute off the lead; if I hadn't slowed down to race Bradyn I might could've been up there with them but I was pretty cooked at the finish so not sure I could've gone much faster overall.

After this race I was looking pretty good in the points standings and feeling confident about my fitness and the way I'd been racing. The last two races could be considered home courses for me, Ruston where I went to college and really started mountain biking, and Huntsville which is close to home and I have lots of laps on.

Segment Analysis

I've mentioned before how cool Strava is, being able to compare historical times over segments you've ridden before. I found a new application for it after this weekends race. I picked out a couple of key sections of the trail (climbs and descents) and compared my time through those segments for each lap. The results are below, and matched my perception of the race. Segments in order through the trail are on the left, laps are across the top. Times highlighted in green were my best efforts of the day, yellow were 2nd, and red are worst.

2012 Mellow Johnny's Classic segment comparison

Just like I suspected, I went out too hard at the beginning, and accordingly set my best times on the segments early in the lap. I then blew up about halfway through, and the end of lap 1 was my worst of the day. This was also my worst full lap of the day. Early in lap 2 I was still recovering, and had my worst results of the day on the early segments. I started recovering about halfway through the race, the end of lap 2 was getting better and I set my fastest time on the last climb. Lap 3 I was much more consistent, not having my worst time on any segment and setting my personal best on 2 segments when I was really in chase mode picking off riders who'd passed me earlier. I got held up in a technical section on the final climb by a downed rider, I suspect without this I'd have closely matched or beaten my effort up the climb on the lap before. I certainly would've set my fastest lap of the day without the interruption.

This example serves as great reinforcement of the importance of pacing yourself. If I hadn't gone out so hard, I wouldn't have wasted so much time recovering from blowing up and would've undoubtedly had a better finishing time overall. It might seem important to stay with the leaders through the early part of the race and not be stuck in traffic, but whenever you blow up you will lose all the ground you earned and then some. Know how hard you can go for the duration of the race and stick to that pace, that will produce your best possible result.

Mellow Johnny's Classic 2012 Race Report

This past weekend was the Mellow Johnny's Classic race at Flat Creek Crossing Ranch. This was previously a regular TMBRA venue, but I never got a chance to race it as it was taken out of the schedule just a year or so before I arrived in TX. We went up Friday night and checked out the pre-race party at Mellow Johnny's bike shop where there were several pros doing a Q&A session. It's a cool scene but we didn't stay too long as we had Ben with us and it was nearly bedtime. We stayed at a hotel in Austin that night, then drove over Saturday morning to the race venue. We missed Richard's start but I did get to see him cross the line in a strong 5th place finish. Then Ben did the kids' cup. He had a great time, he's really learning to ride his bike a lot better. He coasted quite a long ways down a sloping downhill, then was able to ride all the way up the big hill to the finish. I was super proud.

Ben on the kids' cup course.

The UCI Pro races were up next, with the women having the first start. We watched them through the start/finish area, it was cool to see them going at it. The pro men were off next, this was the show I'd been waiting to see. One of my favorites Geoff Kabush took the holeshot with Specialized guys Max Plaxton and Todd Wells hot on his heels. They gapped the rest of the field pretty good, then Plaxton attacked on the 4th of 5 laps and got a gap on Kabush. Plaxton and Wells took 1st & 3rd, with Kabush having a very solid ride in 2nd place. Looks like he's loving riding the 29er.

After the pro races were over I took a preride of the course with my new teammate Chris and another friend Don. The course was a lot of fun, very rocky, lots of ledges, several drops and some steep climbing. I thought it'd be a decent course for me with the technical aspects but knew the climbing would give me trouble. I haven't been getting much hill training or intensity so far this year, just trying to get long rides and build a good base for Ouachita. Saturday night we stayed in Johnson City, about 20 minutes from the race venue. We had mexican for dinner with some friends then headed back to the hotel. I wound up sleeping in the bed with Ben, which ended up being him sleeping while punching and kicking me all night, and me not sleeping much.

Sunday morning we got to the race in plenty of time to take it easy getting ready to race. While hanging around before the race, I saw Chris who'd just taken the win in the Cat. 2/3 SS race. Looks like he was a good pickup for the team! I warmed up a little, some of which consisted of riding around with Ben, and then riding the start loop a few times.

Warming up with Ben.

I went and lined up with 18 in my class, being out of the top 10 I was on the 2nd row for the start. My plan was to go hard off the start and try to be with the lead group into the singletrack. When the gun went off the guy next to me stuck his bars into mine so we were tangled up for a second and I wasn't able to get a great start. I made a pass or two before the first singletrack, and then managed to pass two more on the gravel road section right before the end of the start loop. This probably put me about mid-pack. I was riding decently and staying with the group, but I was going pretty hard to do so. About halfway through the first lap I blew up pretty badly and faded hard all the way back to the tail end of the group. This wasn't completely unexpected, as I said before I haven't been doing any intensity so far this year, but I was still disappointed. I kept moving as best I could but the rest of this lap and the first half of lap 2 were pretty much a disaster. About halfway through lap 2 I started feeling better and ramping up the pace. I was able to push pretty hard from then to the finish, passing several guys in my category before the end. I got passed by a couple of the 30-39 front runners, but towards the end of the race I was able to match their pace pretty well and even drop some of them after they got close. This was a welcome indicator that I was riding strong. I managed to make my way back to 10th place only about 7 minutes behind the winner. This was an improvement over Warda, so hopefully we can keep this trend going. I have to give a special thanks to Raine for being in the feedzone for me every lap and the perfect handups, all while keeping up with Ben running around. I couldn't have done it without her.

The BMC was a great bike for this course with all the rocks and ledges, the suspension combined with the big wheels really kept me rolling smoothly. I found myself wishing for a lighter bike on the climbs, but overall I'm positive the bike has me going faster than I was on my hardtail. Perhaps most importantly, at the end of the race I didn't feel completely trashed. My legs were cooked but the rest of me was in much better shape which I think helped me go faster throughout the race. Can't say thanks enough to my guys at Sugar Cycles for this sweet ride.

A small ledge out on the course.

After my race we loaded up and drove next door to Pedernales Falls State Park. We hiked down to the falls and showed Ben the rocks and waterfalls. He had fun, but was more interested in throwing rocks in the water than anything else. Raine and I have been there once before, when Ben was just 3 months old, but he stayed home with grandma. Raine did pretty good hiking down to the falls, especially being 20 weeks pregnant! We changed our minds on hiking to the second set of falls and decided to head on home as we were all pretty tired. Overall it was a great weekend together with lots of fun stuff going on.

Ben checking out the falls.

Ben and Raine walking the rocks.

Miles of DisComfort Marathon Report

As expected, this was a tough race. I finished the 52.5 miles in 5:09:36. I got 2nd in my age group, but would have been dead last in the Open. I guess that's why I didn't race the Open class.

After stopping to pick up some groceries and supplies Richard and I got on I-10 a little after noon on Friday. We were at Flat Rock Ranch by 3:30. The drive isn't really that bad, and the new sections of 75 mph on I-10 helped speed things along. We set up camp at the best spot on the ranch, on the edge of the campground, right by the creek and just across from the start line. 

Campsite.

We went out for a quick pre-ride to spin our legs, and to give Richard an idea of what kind of terrain to expect and at least see the first few miles of the course. We rode some of both the Upper and Lower loops.

After the ride, we went back and cooked a spaghetti dinner. We built a fire and got registered, then hung around the fire for a while before going to bed. 

Cool iPhone fire picture.

Saturday morning was a bit chaotic. The race started at 9 and I'd planned to get up at 6. I figured it'd be light by then so I could get up and start making breakfast. I kept waking up but it was never really light, so I'd just roll over. I finally checked my clock to find it was a little after 7. We were camped behind a big hill keeping us out of the sunshine, go figure. It was super cold and felt like it kept getting colder until the sun came all the way over the hill and into our campsite a bit. We cooked eggs, sausage and pancakes for breakfast. Then I mixed my bottles and got the bike ready. I finished kitting up at about 8:55 and went over to the start line and picked a midpack starting position. The starter was giving the last minute instructions and suddenly I realized I'd left my sunglasses in the car. I never ride without them and certainly didn't want to for 5 hours with all the sunshine so I dropped my bike and sprinted the 50 yards back to the car, dug them out of my bag and sprinted back. Less than a minute later we were off. The start was a long gravel road uphill, and after the sprinting to the car and no warmup my stomach immediately went into rebellion and I felt like I might vomit for about the first 20-30 minutes. I was taking it pretty easily, and was in a long line of riders so we had to nearly stop for every technical feature but I still felt bad. Eventually my stomach calmed down and the race strung out a bit so I could find some rhythm. Through the first half lap I just stayed steady and made a few passes on riders that'd started harder than me. I didn't stop at the feedzone and went straight out for the 2nd half lap. I got caught by the leaders of the half marathon somewhere early on this loop, and was still mixing it up with a few full marathon racers. I made a couple more passes towards the end of the lap and stopped at the feedzone. On the first full lap I'd ridden everything on the course except for the tops of Pipeline Climb and Mt. Park, which are very, very rocky climbing sections with some pretty sizeable ledges thrown in for good measure. I've ridden them both before, but didn't want to try too hard this day and waste too much energy. I stripped off my warmers, changed bottles and rolled back out for my 2nd lap.

I was feeling the effort from the first lap, and got hung up going up a big rock ledge a few miles in. I couldn't unclip and fell a few feet down off the ledge, but just had a few cuts, nothing serious luckily I didn't land on any large/sharp rocks. I tried to stay steady this lap and just ride efficiently. I made a few of the hard climbs again, but a few I had to walk this time. About halfway through the first half of the lap a woman I'd caught and passed earlier caught back up to me on a big climb. The rest of the loop was mostly flowy downhill so I stayed with her easily back to the feedzone. I needed to stop and get a new bottle but she went on so I lost her there. She turned out to be the Women's Open winner. At least I can almost compete with the ladies. Early in the last loop I was with a guy I'd been going back and forth with for a while, and I was feeling pretty done so I let him go. I'd see him every once in a while but it seemed like nothing was changing between us, besides I was just trying to keep the cranks turning up the big climb.  I felt like I was just surviving and he got out of sight. With 4 or 5 miles to go I got passed by a guy I hadn't been seeing before. He was riding an Epic 29er and I was quite jealous but I decided I would try to show him what the hardtail could do. I got back on his wheel and passed him when he bobbled a ledge around a blind corner. I started gapping him and didn't see him again. Then I saw the guy I'd let go at the beginning of the loop. I decided to try to chase him down, and started making up ground. I was in the fast section of the trail, and was pushing XC race pace now, after 5 hours of suffering, I just kept telling myself he's right there, he's right there. I caught him, rested on his wheel for a minute, then made the pass in the next open section. I dropped the hammer again and quickly dropped him. I stayed on the gas all the way to the finish and surged strong to the line. I think I put about 30 seconds on him in those last few minutes so that was nice.

Key takeaway from the weekend is that I have a lot of work to do before Ouachita Challenge, both on my fitness and on my nutrition. My intake was 2.5 bottles of HEED, 1.5 2-hour bottles of Perpetuem, and a couple of Shot Bloks. But the good news is I got a bunch more miles in my legs and proved that I can ride for at least 5 hours, even if the last 2 aren't so great. I feel like I paced pretty well early, ignoring the fact that I was getting smoked and just riding my own pace, ignoring the race for the most part. This was critical to not ride above my limits and make the rest of the race even worse.

Now I gotta keep doing work to prep for Ouachita, this will be the last week/weekend of trying to just get miles, next week I'll be starting up some intervals.

Peacocks

Earlier this week we went out to eat dinner with Adam & Clare at Clay's. The food is pretty good, but it's also a really neat place for kids. They have animals outside (penned away from the dining areas, yes) including horses, rabbits and chickens for the kids to see and pet. They also have a sandpit for the kids to play in and a place for pony rides. Unfortunately on this night it was dark and rainy so no playing, but we did get to see a few of the animals and Ben petted one of the horses. They also have a couple of peacocks that roam around, the place backs up to the woods so sometimes they're out there but sometimes they'll come inside the fence if there aren't too many people around. This night there was hardly anybody there, so one of  them was under the gazebo staying out of the rain. I took Ben out to see it, he thought it was really cool. He walked right over to it and it let him get pretty close.

There's the peacock.

Yesterday after work I'd hoped to spin the legs a little bit but it had been raining all day and it was pretty nasty outside, already being sick since last week I decided to stay out of the weather and start prepping the bike for the weekend. I gotta pay my guys at Sugar Cycles a quick visit this afternoon to get my wheel checked out after breaking a spoke this past weekend, then everything should be ready to go. We're pulling out mid-day tomorrow. I'm a bit worried about the distance of the full marathon, after my rides last weekend I was pretty beat and they were only 4 hours and 40 miles. The marathon is about 52 miles so I'm expecting to be out there at least 5 hours. I think I'd be happy with that time. Hopefully I can pace myself and manage my nutrition well, otherwise it's going to be a really tough day. I guess the last time I did a 5 hour day was last year at Ouachita. Probably not a good thing heading into this race, but we'll see what happens. I'm not really there to race it, just get time on the bike and have some fun while I'm at it. The trails at Flat Rock Ranch are really fun so hopefully I'll have an enjoyable day.

2012 Kick-off

It's about time I get back to posting, it's been almost 2 years. I've got plans to return to racing more fervently this year, as well as big plans for life in general, so I'll try to keep them chronicled here. I've also done a little redesign on the blog, I like it, hopefully you do too. For now, here's a little catch-up.

I don't remember much about the rest of 2010. I did the Ouachita Challenge for the 3rd time (and 2nd in a row). I was shooting for 6 hrs but got sick about an hour in so I didn't come close to my goal. I'm sure I did a little more racing, but definitely not much. I did somehow finish a strong 2nd at the Huntsville race in the singlespeed open class, as well as 2nd at Ruston in the SS class again.

Huntsville trophy shot.

We went snowskiing last February with Adam & Clare, it was my first time in about 10 years. We went to Breckenridge, during the best snow season they'd ever had. I was back on blacks by day 2, and went to Vail to ski with Andrew I. on day 3. I got in way over my head with some powder skiing on some stuff that was way too steep or tight for me, but I figured it out before the end of the day. When I went back to Breck I went straight to the top and skied the big bowls the rest of the trip.



Top of Breckenridge.

In 2011 I did the OC again, again shooting for 6 hrs but again had stomach issues, this time about halfway through (while I was on pace to make my goal of course).

Ben turned 2 in August, he's getting so big it's amazing to watch him grow and learn.

At the Sugar Cycles cross race in October.

Fireman for Halloween.

Helping daddy trim the hedges.

Playing on the playground at a 'cross race in Austin.

Riding Ryan's tricycle.

We bought a new house late last year so we don't live where we used to anymore. I miss being able to ride out my front door to Bear Creek Park for all-weather traffic-free training, but other than that we love our new place and location. We are much closer to our church and all our friends so it has been a great move for us.

I didn't do a ton of racing last year, and definitely not much training. I got Richard back into biking in a big way last year, he rode my MTB for several months while I rode my singlespeed with him. It was just weekend riding, didn't do anything for my fitness but it was fun to take a break from "training" and we had a lot of fun just riding. He finally got his own MTB so I could get back on mine and we even built him a CX bike from the ground up after he got hooked on 'cross racing. We traveled to a few TXBRA races, neither one of us did any good but we had fun.

Sugar Cross Fest

We went back to Breck in October with Richard and Kristen. Richard and I took bikes, him on a borrowed Specialized Epic 29er demo from my guys at Sugar Cycles (before he got his bike). We had a blast in Breckenridge, the girls got to have some spa days, we got snowed on, and Richard and I got in about 10hrs of awesome riding.

Top of a big climb outside of Breck at an old mine.

I went offshore 5 times last year, the most I've been in a year so far, I don't mind it too much but I think that's enough. The last trip left a few days after Christmas and kept me out over New Year's eve which was a bummer.

That pretty much gets us to now. I'm trying to get some base miles in for the next few weeks, then ramp up to some interval training for a few weeks before the OC. TMBRA races will fall in there, and I'm going to try to make it out to some races in the fledgling LA XC Series, too. There's a great group of guys over there, I'm very glad to see them getting a series going so I plan to support them whenever I can. I did a couple of 3 hr rides this weekend, one with Richard, one solo. Then I was on the bike at 5:55 this morning to get a couple of hrs in mid-week. I think my Garmin has died so I missed the first few miles/minutes trying to get it working before I kicked off the iPhone logging. Oh well. It was about 40 degrees and the wind was blowing at 20+ gusting to 30 so it was a tough day on the bike. Looking to get some more solid long rides this weekend to keep building that base for the year.

Hello it's February

Well you wouldn't know it from my blogging (or lack thereof) but I did live over the flu. I got the flu back at the end of September. My fever got up to 102, but I don't think I suffered any more brain damage than I already had. The doctor called it Swine Flu, I missed a week of work, but I managed to not get Raine, Ben, or Velda sick in the process. So that was a blessing.

Since then a lot has happened of course. Ben had his first Halloween and was a Gingerbread man at the church Trunk-or-Treat along with Ryan (of http://www.themengersponge.blogspot.com/) and Caleb Greene. They were exhibited at Patrick's Pie Shop. (www.beckyandpatrickg.blogspot.com/)

I also got another MTB race under my belt at the Piney Hills Classic in Ruston, my home race. I decided to do something different since I hadn't been contesting any of the rest of the Fall series, so I turned the Stumpjumper singlespeed and jumped in for my first SS race. I'd raced the Monocog a couple of times, but that was in the Sport class. The race was a lot of fun, and it worked out pretty well for me as I finished 3rd, my best finish since I won the beginner class at Ruston several years ago. That was maybe 2006?
I did some cyclocross racing in the TXBRA series, scoring one top-5 finish in cat. 4 and an upgrade to a 3. Most of my racing was chronicled in my articles in The Racing Post, which you can find current and back-issues of at http://www.theracingpost.us/. And yes if you happen to notice I am in fact riding a cyclocross bike, Raine and I sold off our road bikes and picked up a matching pair last year before 'cross season started.
Christmas was somewhere in there, too. This was Ben's first Christmas so of course it was a big deal, even though he had no clue what was going on. We drove our circuit around LA (Louisiana not Los Angeles, which would be L.A.) to see all the family, from Houston to Alexandria to Ruston to Mansfield and finally back to Houston. Of course it was great to see everyone for a while, and the 2 weeks off work didn't hurt my feelings either. I intended to ride the Excruciation Exam (85 mile MTB race) to wrap up the break but that didn't happen due to several factors including weather, lack of motivation, and a lack of friends to ride with to make the miles more bearable. So yeah I skipped it. Bummer. Turned out it was kinda muddy so maybe I didn't miss it after all. Try again next year.

That brings us into 2010, and two months are almost past. Jan. 1st I got my first promotion since I entered the industry, I now hold the title of Sr. Engineer. I'm glad to be blessed with a good job at a good company and to do well at it. Ben is now past the 6-month mark with no signs of slowing down. He's growing big and getting to be a lot of fun. He loves to laugh and smile, getting more social all the time. He's nearing the crawling point, regularly pushing up on his hands and knees and rocking back and forth. He has already learned to ride a trike, which I'm very proud of. He can't motivate himself yet, but we're getting there. Give it time.
Spring MTB season starts this weekend, and no I'm not at all ready. I've been riding about once a week lately, spending all my time with Ben and Raine and not regretting it one bit. I get to ride about once a week, usually on Saturdays, when I take the chance to do a long ride in preparation for the OC coming up at the end of March. That's my big focus for the Spring. I know I can just go finish it, but part of me wants to go burn it up and see how I can do. I need vindication after the flat took me out of contention last year. But, I'm traveling up and lodging with 3 friends, so part of me wants to group ride it with them and just have fun. We'll see how I feel the morning of, and what mood strikes me when the gun sounds. Hopefully I will do a better job of updating this instead of only giving updates every 6 or 7 months, of course I always say that so we'll see what happens.

I have finally got myself an iPhone, so maybe I'll use it for more frequent updates. It was definitely a significant day in my life.

Comfort and Coldsprings Catch-up

I've been slacking a little bit, so I'll catch up on my last two races.

The first was the STORM Hill Country Challenge at Flat Rock Ranch in Comfort, TX. This was the weekend of the massive rains that rolled through TX from San Antonio to Houston, causing day one of the BP MS-150 to be cancelled. As we were driving through the rain Friday afternoon, doing good to make 35mph on I-10, I was dreading what lay in store for us at the ranch.

When we woke up Saturday morning in Comfort to more rain, I was thinking even worse thoughts. We loaded up and headed out to the ranch, where we were surprised to find things in reasonably good condition. The creek was dry and the ground was only slightly soggy. This was an omnium weekend, so the short track and time trial were scheduled for that day. It turned out that the rain had been perfect. Other than a small mudhole in the short track course, the trails were absolutely incredible all weekend. My racing wasn’t much to speak of, as I’d been sick all week and hadn’t gone to the doctor until Thursday before the race. I held on to the leaders as long as I could in the short track and the XC, and tried to ride a steady time trial (until a cow blocking the trail on the fast downhill to the finish caused me to have to dismount and walk around!!!). Due to a low turnout, I came out 4th overall in the omnium and took home a little prize money. I guess I can’t complain.



The next race was the GHORBA Big Ring Challenge at Double Lake Recreation Area in Coldsprings, TX. After another round of torrential rain that caused a lot of flooding in Houston on Monday, the trails were in great shape Saturday for pre-riding. Sunday morning I was awoken by, you guessed it, rain. It started about 7:30 or so, and rained right up until the Cat. 2 start at 9:00. Just before my Cat. 1 start at 11:30, it started again. It had quit by the time we lined up, but the damage was done. Luckily, the Double Lake trail has a lot of sandy soil. It was still a muddy mess, but it handled the rain better than most any other trail could have.

From the start, my plan was to try to stay with the leaders. I wound up on the back row and the far right, which wasn’t a good starting position. When the whistle blew, I worked hard to move up, took the low line to the singletrack entrance, and went in 6/7th. The trail was super slick, with both wheels wandering aimlessly down the trail in only the general direction you pointed them in. Thankfully, it was totally rideable. I worked my way forward a little bit with a few passes to get up to 4th or 5th I think. I caught site of Kyle Johnson and thought I was doing well, but shortly after that my legs just went dead. I felt like I still had lungs and energy to go, but my legs just felt like logs. I got passed a few times through the rest of the lap, then a group of three that had been following me for a bit came by in the start/finish. One more pass in the second lap and I was back to dead last.

About halfway through the third lap my legs started to come back and I was picking up the pace. I passed one of the three who had passed me earlier, and then I caught and passed my teammate Brian McGrath and friend Geoff Mann. Brian was the second of the three, and Geoff had passed me somewhere earlier in the singletrack. I also caught back up to Kyle, who was obviously having a bad day as I put him behind me. I saw Dominic Adl (the third of the three!) up ahead about halfway through the final lap and set my sights on catching him.

I finally caught Dominic a few miles from the finish, and sat on his wheel for a while. We caught a lapper who let us through cleanly, and I was glad because I didn’t want Dominic to have a chance to get away. It was then that he realized it was me behind him. I asked him if he wanted to let me by or sprint for it, and he said we would sprint. The exit of the singletrack involves a slight right turn, a few roots to ride over, and then about 50 meters with a volleyball court sandpit leading to the line. Dominic came out of the woods and gunned it, putting up a strong sprint, but it wasn’t quite enough as I came around him through the sand. I wound up finishing 7th, not as good as I was hoping for but I was glad to put on a good comeback after a mid race collapse.


Next up is a Disney World trip with JT and Abby(I'm actually writing from Orlando, LOL), then the Houston Grand Crit, and then LOCO Fest.

Headed to Comfort

Here's a quick Friday morning post to keep the ball rolling, we're headed out to Comfort this afternoon. This is a course I really like, that has been good and bad to me. In 2007, my first year of racing in TX, it was a mudfest that turned out to be one of my better races that season. I was racing Sport, and finished 12th. I don't remember anything spectacular about the race, except battling with Hunter Grove to the finish, thinking he was in my class when he was actually a Jr. that started with us. And the mud of course. But thankfully, the mud there is more of a wet soupy mud that just splashes on you, not the nasty sticky mud that destroys your bike. It's looking a little wet this weekend, too, so we could see similar conditions. This is an omnium, too, with a Short Track and Time Trial on Sat., combined with the Cross-Country on Sunday.


Last year, it wasn't so good to me. I was still racing Sport, but doing much better as it was my second year and I had learned a lot and improved my fitness a lot. I started well, but flatted about five minutes into the race. So I was back to dead last, and after fixing the flat it took me a bit to get back into the groove. I finally got going and rode strong to the end up to 11th, which was not normal for me to finish outside the top 10 that season. So it was a good day for my fitness, but an unfortunate race.

This has been a tough week, I've been sick all week and finally got to the Dr. yesterday. Got a shot and some meds, so hopefully I'll be feeling ok for the race. He said it was ok to go and race, so go I will. Of course, the tough week started before that, when my car was broken into Friday night and my Zune, FM transmitter, work laptop, and team Oakleys were stolen. This pretty much ruined my birthday weekend, but I guess I survived. Raine and James took me out for Hibachi grill Sat. night, so that cheered me up, and then we had a great small group party Sunday night at Brandon and Jessica's. Mike's birthday was Sat., so we had a mutual birthday cake. With 15 candles, LOL. 40-25=15 was the logic. I love all those folks. It made my weekend better, for sure.

And then, I got a call yesterday that I might have to go offshore Sunday or Monday for 2-3 weeks. :( I want to go offshore, but that's a long time to be off the bike and away from Raine. And our 20-week ultrasound is Tuesday, it would really be a bummer to miss that. I hope I don't have to go, or it at least gets pushed back some. I will have to be back by May, because I will not miss the Lake Lake race and we're leaving on Vacation the 8th. We'll see what happens. Now I gotta walk the dog and head to work, more blogging after the race.

Ouachita Challenge 2009

So here it is, finally, the post. Took a week but it's been a tough one. Here's how it went down...

The Brain and I pulled out of Houston last Saturday morning, I picked him up from his apartment at 6AM. Having forgotten the cycling GPS I borrowed to use during the race, I drove all the way back out to the house to get it. So we didn't actually leave here until about 6:45. We stopped for lunch in Dierks, AR. There wasn't much to the town, but we needed to eat, and I saw a sign for a deli/meat market place on Main Street. So thinking this would be an interesting experience, we pulled in.(thanks Google Street View, lol)
There were two rotund old dudes sitting near the counter who welcomed us in, and Brain and I milled around for a few minutes looking for some lunch. It was more a general store than a deli/meat market, or so it appeared, so we approached the guys about some lunch. Guy #2 recommended having guy #1(the owner, we guessed) make us some sandwiches. I picked a hot link BBQ sandwich, and Brain went with a standard turkey sandwich. So while guy #1 was in the back fixing sandwiches, we chatted with guy #2. This dude was as country hick as I am skinny, and I reverted pretty quickly back to my country roots during the course of our conversation. He claimed this was the best meat market in this part of the country, and people came from all around to buy their meat. His perspective may have been a little different than ours, but after my sandwich I believed him. Brain couldn't understand most of what was said, but he still got a good kick out of the whole thing. A couple bucks for the sandwiches, and we were on our way. When Brain opened his sandwich, it was huge! He was struggling to finish it! We switched drivers in NewHope, when I opened my BBQ sandwich. This was the greatest BBQ sandwich I'd ever laid eyes on, a huge hot link down the middle of a bun soaked in BBQ sauce with some sort of meat chunks on top. I plowed through it and didn't even think to take a picture. Nothing to do with the Ouachita Challenge, but worth writing about.

So we got to our cabin that afternoon, and went out for an easy ride on the Womble trail.

I led us to some ridiculous climbing, which was probably too hard for the day before the race, but it was some awesome trail. We went back down and went to another section of trail that was easier for a little while before heading back. After getting checked into the cabin and cleaned up, we headed up to the Oden school to register for the race and eat dinner. The spaghetti was good, and I visited with some friends who had done the Sat. tour. Back to the cabin where we went to sleep, prepared to wake up to 35 degree temps on Sunday morning.



When we woke up and went outside, it was actually nice and we were thankful it wasn't cold. We headed up to the school to get some breakfast and get ready to race. As the race got closer, the weather turned sour. The temperature was dropping, the wind was blowing, and it started to lightly rain. Luckily the rain passed before the start, but the wind and cold stayed. So with arm and leg warmers on and a cold/rain jacket in the back pocket, we headed off to the start. The start of the race was downhill on a highway for the first few hundred yards, after which we turned onto a more rural road. It was mostly coast/brake/coast down the highway, but on the rural road the pace picked up. We had started somewhere around mid-pack, but on the pavement, I drug me and Brain up to the back of the front group. The pavement turned to gravel, and then we hit the climbs. When the race turned onto a rocky jeep road, the flats started all over the place. Me and Brain settled into a pace, working together, as the race alternated from singletrack to gravel road. Brain started getting flats at about mile 9, and he told me to go on. So I went. I rode solid and steady, going fast on the roads and cruising the singletrack. I only stopped for a minute or two at each aid station, just long enough to refill the bottles and get going again. When we hit the Ouachita trail and the mountains started, I began to feel the tiredness. I stayed steady, and got over the first two mountains pretty well. I was in and out of the last aid station pretty quickly, and off to get over the last mountain, Big Brushy. At mile 48 or so, I hit a rock way too hard and flatted my back tire. Stan's sealed the puncture, but the bead wouldn't reseat so I had to put a tube in it. GPS shows I was sitting still for 20 minutes tending the flat, which was way too long. I was fatigued and not thinking straight I'm sure(hence crunching the rock in the first place) and I messed with it way too long instead of just getting it fixed. Just as I get everything fixed and back on the bike to roll off, here comes Brain down the hill. So reunited, we rode/walked the rest of the singletrack together and hit the road for the drag to the finish. I somehow had some strong power left, so I threw down the hammer and Brain tucked into the draft. Wherever it was flat or downhill, I was hammering, and when we hit a climb, Brain pulled up alongside to pace. We got to the finish line to finish with a time of 6:26, good enough for 49th place out of 159 finishers and a lot of DNFs.

In retrospect, it was just as hard as I remember it being from 3 years ago. I was a lot faster(almost 2 hours) and I rode a lot more of the climbs, but when you're suffering trying to go as fast as you can, it is still hard. Maybe even harder than not being that fit but riding it tour style, no rush, etc. I will definitely be back, as I had a goal of finishing in under 6 hours this year which I didn't quite make. The flat cost me 20 minutes, so that would have put me almost to my goal, but you can't argue on things like that. The time you finished in is the time you get. If somebody finished faster because they didn't flat, they were either better prepared or just lucky that day. If somebody flatted and still finished faster, then they definitely earned it and showed that I've got more work to do. It won't be next year, as I'll have a seven month old by then :), but maybe the year after.

Sorry this is so long, but I primarily write them for myself, anyway. If you read it, thanks! Stick around, lots more to come.